Four Minus Two Equals One
by LilyoftheValley4
Summary: The Meeting, The Friends, The Enemies, Tom Riddle, The Deceit, and The End.
1. Shopping for Sirius

**Title**: Four Minus Two Equals One

**Author**: LilyoftheValley

**Disclaimer**: I am not attempting to take over either the characters from the muggle world or the characters of the wizarding world. They all belong to J.K. Rowling.

**Summary**: This story will follow the life of James Potter from the day he got his letter to Hogwarts, to the day he tried to ward of Voldemort the night he died. This story will also tell the story of when Sirius was accused of killing twelve people with one curse, and of the story of how Wormtail became under the power of the Dark Lord. 

**A/N**: I hope you all enjoy my story! Any advice, compliments, etc… are appreciated. Thank you!

            James Potter stood up and stretched from his position on his bed. The sun was shining brightly threw the window of house number seven, Sickle Street, and downstairs, the clattering of pots and pans could be heard. James, a tall skinny boy for eleven with untidy black hair and glasses looked around his room. It was decorated with posters of his favorite Quidditch players. Some were on brooms, some were just smiling and winking, and some were actively avoiding bludgers or searching for the golden snitch. 

            The game of Quidditch, unheard of to most people in the "normal" world, was a game played on broomsticks. Wizards from all over the world sought for a position on one of the international teams, and James himself hoped that he'd be one of them some day. His parents had taken them to see the Quidditch World Cup the previous year, and James couldn't remember when he had ever had so much fun. 

            "James! Breakfast is ready!" His mother called up the stairs. James jumped out of his bed and attempted to walk across his floor without tripping on one of the open books on the floor. He had had his mother pretty much buy every volume of the Standard Book of Spells along with books on Transfiguration, Quidditch, Herbology, Potions, and a book or two on the Defense against the Dark Arts. James was more than looking forward to his first year of Hogwarts; he was ecstatic. Having been surrounded by witches and wizards as he grew up, he was dying to get his hand not only on a wand, but a broom. 

            James pattered down the stairs in his boxer shorts and tee shirt and ran into the kitchen where he almost collided with his mother who was carrying a plate of pancakes to the table.

            "Wow, slow down, James. There's enough to go around," she said affectionately. His mother was of medium height with long raven black hair that ended in slight girls at the tips. She had gentle blue eyes and laugh lines around her lips from her constantly smiling face. She wore thin wire glasses, as did his father. James's father was tall and skinny like his son with brown eyes and a face that was both fatherly and business like, for not only was he a father, but a Auror for the Ministry of Magic. James adored his father, thinking him to be incredibly brave in the line of work he did, but James interests still lay in the game of Quidditch. 

            Suddenly, there was a hoot coming from the owl that was now resting on the kitchen window. Tillia was the Potter's brown barn owl, and on this particular morning, she was delivering more than the Daily Prophet. 

            "Let's see," his mother said, thumbing threw the mail. "We've got the Daily Prophet, a letter from the Freemens, and…" she paused dramatically. "A letter addressed to a Mister James Potter of number seven Sickle Street. James jumped up from the table knocking its contents gently. 

            "Careful son," Mr. Potter said laughing as he took a napkin and swept it around the spilt coffee in the saucer that had fallen when James had hit the table. 

            "Is it my Hogwarts letter?" James asked excitedly. 

            Mrs. Potter smiled. "I don't know. Are you sure you're Mister James Potter?" 

            James stuck his hands on his hips and pouted. "Mum!"

            She laughed. "Yes, it's your letter. Here, take it before you explode!" His mother gave him his letter and was surprised that in her son's haste to open it that he did not rip the contents.

            "Dear Mister Potter," James read aloud. "We are happy to inform you that you have been excepted into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will meet at platform nine-and-three-quarters on the first of September. The train will leave promptly at eleven o'clock. Listed below are the required schoolbooks for first year students. Hogwarts looks forward to seeing you in the upcoming year! Sincerely, Professor Dumbledore."

            James looked down the list of required items. In the way of books, there was _Standard Book of Spells Grade One_, _Growing Your Own Green House_, _Dueling Defensively_, _The Past in my Pensieve, Boiling and Bubbling: Potions at your Fingertips, _and_ A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_. The rest of the items consisted of a wand, a formal black robes for schooling, a winter cloak, protective gloves, a pointed hat, parchment, ink, quills, cauldron, and an animal of your choosing (limited to an owl, cat, toad, or rat). A side note was also written at the bottom of the parchment. 

            "Please remember," James read aloud with disappointment, "that first years will not be permitted to possess a broomstick." James slumped in his seat. Not being able to posses a broom ruined James's chance of trying to make a house team. "It's not fair," James said throwing the parchment onto the table.

            "You know that they have your best interests at heart, James. You can always try out for a team next year," Mrs. Potter said soothingly. James said nothing. Instead of trying to change her son's mood, Mrs. Potter decided to change the subject. "Are there any books you need from that list?"

            James glanced at the list sullenly. "Just _The Past in my Pensieve_." 

            "Ok," Mrs. Potter said as she bewitched the dishes to wash themselves. "Do you want to go to Diagon Alley to get your supplies today?" 

            James shrugged. "Alright." Being born into a wizarding family, his mother made frequent trips to Diagon Alley and to James, it really was nothing special. James slid out of his seat after eating a few pancakes and headed upstairs to dress. Being underage and never really having a reason to possess robes, James owned only muggle clothes, which actually made him feel out of place when he went into the wizarding world, but he got over it. 

            James slid down the banister back downstairs where his mother was waiting patiently for him. James and his mother stepped into the living room and Mrs. Potter removed the floo powder from its stand beside the fireplace. Mrs. Potter grabbed a handful of the green powder and stepped towards the fireplace just as Mr. Potter shouted, "Have fun, dear!" Mrs. Potter said the words "Diagon Alley," clearly and then threw the powder down at her feet. 

            James waited for the green flames to settle and then grabbed a handful himself. "Bye, Dad!" James stepped into the fireplace and threw the powder at his feet after saying his destination clearly. James felt himself being pulled through time only to face reality again when he suddenly shot threw the fireplace that was located in the middle of Diagon Alley. His mother was already standing brushing remnants of black soot off her dark blue robes. 

            She helped him up and they headed down Diagon Alley. A new bookstore, Flourish and Blots, had opened about a year ago, and it proved to be the best place to find schoolbooks. James headed towards the back looking for the schoolbook he needed while his mother headed upstairs to look around. James headed down one of the many bookshelves when he stumbled over something and fell to the floor. 

            The sound of someone laughing made James rise angrily to his feet. A young man with black hair that was slightly longer than normal length and black eyes that were filled with laughter was standing there pointing at James. James looked over his shoulder and saw a piece of fishing line across two of the bookshelves. James turned back to the laughing boy and was about to punch him when the boy suddenly stopped laughing and stepped back.

            "Wooh, take it easy. It was only a little prank. I didn't mean any harm." James didn't say anything. "What's your name?"

            "James," he said slowly. 

            "Sirius," the other boy said sticking out his hand. James took it and finally allotted a smile. James glanced back at the fishing wire. 

            "Kind of a muggle prank isn't?" James asked. 

            Sirius shrugged. "What else can I do? Still too young thanks to the Decree of the Restriction of Underage Wizardry."

            James grinned. "Yeah, you're right." 

            "Shh," Sirius, said, pulling James farther back from the carefully placed wire. "Someone's coming."

            "James, have you found your book yet?" James turned white recognizing his mother's voice immediately. He turned to look at Sirius who was giving him the same panicky look that James was sure was on his face, but before either of the boys could say anything, Mrs. Potter had rounded the corner and tripped over the wire between the two shelves. Neither of the boys laughed as Mrs. Potter got to her feet. 

            James looked beside him and was surprised to see that Sirius had disappeared. James however forgot that thought and ran over to his mother. "Are you okay, Mum?"

            "Yes, I am. I wonder what I tripped on," she said turning around. She looked around and shrugged. "I must have tripped over my own two feet." James brow furrowed as he snuck a look behind his mother. The line that had been tied across the walking way was gone. Sirius appeared a few minutes later back at James's side.

            "Well, hello," Mrs. Potter said in surprise. "And who might you be?" 

            Sirius passed James a quick wink before answering, "Sirius Black, Ma'am."

            James jumped in to finish the introductions. "This is my Mum, Jamie Potter," James said to Sirius. 

            "It's very nice to meet you, Sirius. Tell me, will you be attending Hogwarts this year?" James waited for Sirius to answer, curious to hear his response. 

            Sirius nodded. "This will be my first year."

            "How lovely," Mrs. Potter exclaimed. "James will be starting his first year too." James blushed at this. "Have you already completed your school shopping, Sirius?" Sirius shook his head. "Would you like to join us? That is, if it's okay with your parents." James watched confused as Sirius's face darkened at the mention of his parents, but he hid it quickly. 

            'They're at the Leaky Cauldron. They gave me some money to complete my shopping, so I'm sure they won't mind if I join you," Sirius said happily. 

            "Excellent," Mrs. Potter said smiling at the boys. "James, here's some money for your book. Why don't you show Sirius where you got your other school books and then meet me outside, okay?" James nodded, and Mrs. Potter left them alone. 

            "That was some quick thinking," James whistled. 

            Sirius bowed. "Thank you. I pride myself in my planning."

            "Come on," James said heading over to the section of books on the far left of the shelf. "Let's get our books and then head over to Quality Quidditch and see if the new Cleansweep is out!" 

            Sirius's brow furrowed. "But first years aren't allowed to have brooms."

            "So? In case some how I do end up on a house team, I want the best broom available. I just want to keep up to date."

            Sirius rolled his eyes as James began throwing books into Sirius's arms. "You and everyone else."

            James stopped. "What's wrong with Quidditch?"

            Sirius shrugged. "Nothing. It's just not my cup of tea." James folded his arms.

            "Have you ever even _seen_ a Quidditch game?" he asked. 

            Sirius looked away. "Well no, not really. But a game where you try to throw a rock into a hop on brooms doesn't really fascinate me."

            James clucked his tongue. "It's more than that," he exasperated. "You'll just have to see it. It can't be explained." James topped of Sirius's mountain of books, grabbed _The Past in my Pensieve _for himself and headed to the checkout counter. 

            The two boys paid for their books and headed outside to where Mrs. Potter was waiting. "Got the books you needed?" the boys nodded. "Good, now, I think we'll head for the owlry. Sirius were you going to purchase an owl?" Sirius shook his head. "Ok then, we'll make it a quick trip. Why don't you boys go to the owlry and I'll go purchase your cauldrons and I'll meet you back at the owlry. Sound good?" Sirius nodded as James looked longingly at the group of kids gathered around Quality Quidditch Supplies. James sighed and followed Sirius grudgingly towards the owlry.  

            They stepped inside and were instantly greeted by a very happy wizard, maybe a wizard that was a little overly happy. "Good afternoon boys, what can I do you for? We've got a great selection of owls. In the back of the store we have our strongest owls, able to lift any package you want them to carry. In the front, we've got the owls that are used to carrying single sheets of parchment, and have ultimately been used for either short or long periods of their lives. All of them are really reliable. What are you interested in?" The wizard asked stopping only to catch his breath. 

            James meanwhile had stood stock still listening only in a sort of petrified state, not knowing whether or not he'd be run over he tried to interrupt the store keeper. "I think I'll just look around for a little while," James said as he slowly backed away from the man, Sirius at his side. 

            "Whooh, I think he needs tongue twister candy or something. I didn't think he'd ever stop talking," Sirius whispered as they started walking down the aisle way, looking into cage upon cage of owls. James finally stopped in front of a nice brown owl; speckled in some areas with black dots that almost looked liked they had been delicately painted on. 

            James was about to turn around to ask Sirius his opinion when he came face-to-face with the storeowner again. "Oh," he said smiling. "Are you interested in this one?" he asked gesturing towards the black spotted owl. But before James could say anything he was talking again. "A very fine choice young may. Kederick is his name. He's one of our in between owls. He'll carry light packages and large parchments. Very loyal his breed is too. Hard to find a better owl. Would you like to buy him? I ought to mention he's sort of expensive, but I promise you will not be disappointed by your choice. So what'll it be?" James was just about to say that he'd take him when a big black owl flew from its cage somewhere in the back and landed on the cage of a neighboring owl. The white owl that was in the cage instantly began hooting and seconds later, the cage landing on the floor with the owl still hooting inside.

            "What the—" the storekeeper exclaimed, ducking as the owl flew over his head en route to the door. The door was luckily closed, that was until it was opened not five seconds later and Mrs. Potter entered carrying two golden cauldrons.

            "Ma'am!" The shopkeeper exclaimed. "Please close the door—" but it was too late. The owl took advantage of all the confusion and flew out the door and into the sky. The shopkeeper looked outside confused and then headed to the back of the store placing the still screeching white owl back on the table. He picked up a now empty cage and looked it over. 

            'I don't understand," he said shaking his head, "how Ghalia escaped." 

            "Sir?" James said cautiously. The man looked up. 'I'll take Kederick." The confusion on the man's face was replaced with a smile so quickly that you would never have known he had been upset a second before. 

            'That's great. Now come up here and we'll fix you right up," he said eagerly. James paid for the owl and he, Sirius, and Mrs. Potter left the store. 

            "Here Sirius, I bought you your cauldron," she said smiling. Sirius looked at her in surprise and reached down into his pocket to remove a few galleons, but Mrs. Potter waved him away. "No, don't be silly. Keep your money. It was nothing. Now let me see," she said looking around. "Oh yes, robes. Here we'll need to get you boys measured."

            Mrs. Potter opened the door to the store and stepped inside. A kindly looking old wizard looked up from his crouched position on the floor. He looked to be almost of Irish origin for his gray beard reached his chest and his hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. Not to mention that at his full height, he was only about as tall as James. 

            "Aye, more Hogwarts students I presume?" he said smiling. He set a box of pinning needles on the table and walked over to them. 

            Mrs. Potter's normal smile widened. "Yes, it'll be their first year." 

            "Ah, first years, eh?" he chuckled as his eyes skimmed over the boys. He stopped dead when he caught sight of Sirius, and his smile fell. "Mr. Black, how nice to see you again." He looked around. "Here with yer family, are ya?" he asked tersely. Sirius shook his head, and the shopkeeper relaxed. The moment ended, and the shopkeeper became his normal self. "Well now, seems as if we need a few formal black robes for schooling, am I right?" James and Sirius nodded. 

            "Well, let me take some measurements," he clapped his hands and a piece of measuring tape and a pad of paper picked themselves up off the table. The measuring tape surrounded Sirius first taking measurement of almost every part of his body while the pencil scribbled furiously on the paper. When it was done, the measuring tape jumped to James, flipping over a piece of paper as it did so, and became taking James's measurements on a brand-new piece of paper. 

            When the measurements were done, the measuring tape rolled itself up and laid itself back down on the near by desk. The pad of paper flew to the shopkeeper. He read both measurements. "Hmm, doesn't seem like I got your sizes in stock. Just gimme a minute to alter a few things and then you can take your robes today!" The shopkeeper walked to the back of the room and through a door with the pad of paper following behind him. Just minutes later he reappeared carrying two black robes.

            "Yes, these ought to do," he turned to Mrs. Potter. "Would you like one or two?" Mrs. Potter thought for a second. 

            "Hmm, you better make it three for James here. Sirius, what about you?" Sirius shrugged. "Make it the same for me too."

            "Three robes a piece? Well done then." The shopkeeper removed his wand from his own unusually green robes and waved it in the air. Soon, the two robes floating in the air turned to six. With another wave the robes were wrapped up and placed at the boys feet. Mrs. Potter headed towards the man, paid for all the robes, and left.

            "Thank you, Mrs. Potter," Sirius said happily. 

            "Your welcome, Sirius. I'm just happy that James found someone he can really get along with. Now we have one more stop. Wands. Now there is no better place than Ollivanders." She glanced at her watch. "Hmm, we're running low on time. You two will have to get your wands. I'll get the remaining items on the list. We'll grab some lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and we'll call it a day, okay?"

            "Okay, Mum," James said as he opened the door to Ollivanders. Mr. Ollivander looked up the moment the bell on the door rang. 

            "Good afternoon!" Mr. Ollivander said grinning. Ollivander had graying hair that actually seemed to be turning white. His entire look, even though he was wearing black robes, resembled that of a mad scientist. 

            "Hogwarts students looking for our wands are we?" He said. "Well let me see." Mr. Ollivander looked at them. "Both right handed?" They nodded and Mr. Ollivander brought out his measuring tape and told them to stretch out their right arms. After writing a few things down he then climbed up on his ladder and picked out two boxes from the stack of wands that cluttered the shelves. He put one in front of James and the other in front of Sirius. James eagerly took his wand out of the box. Spying a chair with a broken back leg sitting in the back of the room he pointed his wand at it and cried, "_Furnitio Repario_!" Seconds later the chair exploded.

            James put the wand gingerly back in the box. Sirius laughed and pointed his wand at the wooden chair trying to fix James mistake, but ended up leaving a large black mark on the wall. 

            "Nope, not quite," Mr. Ollivander said his voice sounding strained. He picked out two different wands from the shelf and set them in front of the two boys just as he had done before. James picked his up, and pointed to one of the books on the wall. "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" The book levitated smoothly off the shelf and landed right in front of James. 

            Mr. Ollivander smiled. "I think you've found your wand. Mahogany, eleven inches, and pliable. An excellent wand for transfiguration, Mr. Potter."

            Sirius meanwhile was playing around with his wand. Finally Sirius pointed his wand at the globe sitting on the table and cried, "_Accio globe_!" The globe lifted and traveled straight to Sirius's open hand. 

            "Excellent," Mr. Ollivander said picking up Sirius's wand. "Nine and a half inches, willow with unicorn hair. Stiff but strong. An all purpose wand really, but I'd say its major characteristics would favor hexes and counter curses." Sirius looked at his wand in awe, as did James. This was what being a wizard was all about. 

            James looked back at the chair he had exploded and once again cried, "_Furnitio Repario!_" The chair instantly began to assemble itself piece-by-piece before it looked like a brand new chair again. Meanwhile, Sirius was levitating the other wand boxes back to the shelf. 

            "Very nice boys, very nice, but now I think you should pay for your wands and be on your way—" Mr. Ollivander stopped as James attempted to remove the dust from the shelves, but as he did so his spell began to combine with another one of Sirius's levitation spells and it began to create a dust storm that swept over the whole room. When it finally settled, the room was messier than it had been to begin with.

            Mr. Ollivander poked his head up from underneath his desk, of which he had taken cover from the dust storm. He cleared his throat and stood up. "Umm, that'll be, uh, twelve galleons boys." Sirius and James attempted to hide their smiles while they paid six galleons a piece, but couldn't help but burst out laughing when they got outside. When they finally settled down James turned to Sirius.

            "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you. Were you the one to set Ghalia loose at the owlry?" Sirius started laughing.

            "Yes, that was me. I was trying to see if there was something I could do to wipe that overly cheery smile off his face. He didn't have a clue!" James joined in. 

            "Now _that _was original!" James said calming down again.

            Sirius shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? Laughter is the best medicine!"


	2. A Magical Arrival

Chapter 2

            After the wand fiasco, the boys met up again with Mrs. Potter and headed to the Leaky Cauldron. Inside was crowded. Witches and wizards of all sizes were sitting around laughing and drinking, and having fun. 

            "Sirius, didn't you say your parents were around here some where? Maybe they have a table," Mrs. Potter asked. Sirius's expression instantly became nervous. He looked around the Leaky Cauldron. "Nope, they're not here. They must of left," Sirius said shrugging. 

            Mrs. Potter looked concerned. "They may have gone to look for you. Maybe we should try to find them. We wouldn't want them to worry."

            James heard Sirius mutter something under his breath that sounded like, "They wouldn't worry about me." Aloud, Sirius said, "I'm sure they just went window shopping. They told me to meet them at Flourish and Blots at four anyway." 

            "Oh, okay. If you're sure," Mrs. Potter said as she searched for a table. "Over there!" she exclaimed, pointing to a table in the back. The three of them made their way past the crowded restaurant and successfully claimed a table. "I'll go place our order. Do you boys know what you would like?"

            "I'll eat anything," Sirius said proudly, hitting his stomach.

            Mrs. Potter laughed. "Alright, I'll bring over some sandwiches and butterbeers." The boys sat in silence for a few minutes after Mrs. Potter left before James broke the silence. 

            "Where are your parents _really_, Sirius?" James asked carefully.

            Sirius looked surprise. "What do you mean? I told you they were window shopping."

            "Don't give me that," James scoffed. "I've seen the way your expression changes when you talk about them. So, are you going to tell me?"

            Sirius was about to open his mouth to say something, when Mrs. Potter came back with a tray of sandwiches and drinks.

            "Eat up boys," Mrs. Potter said. The three picked up their sandwiches and ate in silence. When they had finished, they threw away their food and headed back into Diagon Alley. 

            Mrs. Potter looked at her watch anxiously. "I'm sorry, Sirius, but James and I must be getting back. Please apologize to your parents for me for feeding you lunch so late. I hope that I didn't ruin your appetite."

            Sirius waved her off. "I can eat anything at anytime. Me being a growing boy that is."

            "Of course," Mrs. Potter said smiling. "How could I forget?"

            "Do you think that we'd be able to get together sometime, Sirius?" James asked him. 

            Sirius frowned. "I can't really do anything for the rest of the summer. My parents have pretty much made plans to travel until I start school." Sirius brightened. "But then again, there's always Hogwarts." Sirius grinned mischievously. 

            James grinned back. "I look forward to it." 

            "Have a good afternoon, Sirius," Mrs. Potter called as she and James headed back to the fireplace they had used to enter Diagon Alley. James went first this time. He threw the powder at his feet once again and the crowded streets of Diagon Alley disappeared and his house came into focus. 

            Just as James stood up, he heard the front door close and his father's footsteps walking into the living room.

            "Hey James. Have fun shopping?" Samuel Potter asked his son.

            "Loads. I met this other first year who is going to Hogwarts named Sirius Black," James said excitedly. 

            "Sirius Black. Why does that name sound familiar to me?" Mr. Potter asked running a hand threw his untidy black hair. 

            "I don't know," Mrs. Potter said coming out of the fire. "But he was a very nice boy."

            "…Black…Black…" his father said still thinking. "I know I've heard that name before." His father snapped his fingers. "They were in the paper a few years ago when they refused to vote yes to ban that stupid law that said every muggle-born witch or wizard had to register with the Ministry of Magic. Everyone knew that it was a created as more of a social barrier than it was a benefit to the Ministry. I mean, if purebloods shouldn't have to register, why should muggle-borns?

            "If I remember correctly, they were very animate about the law being enforced. Purebreds themselves, I believe," Mr. Potter said scowling.

            James made a face. "How did such a law even come into affect?"

            "About thirty years back, Gordon Helperian, a pureblood, became Minister of Magic. He began to create all these biased laws so that the most benefits went to purebloods. Luckily not many of them passed, but this one did. Equalists have been working for years to get that law on muggle registration banned, succeeding only a few years ago."

            "Well Sirius didn't seem that way," James said stubbornly. "He didn't ask me what I was, anyway."

            Mr. Potter smiled. "I'm sure Sirius is a fine young man. Now why don't you go upstairs and put your new school stuff away." James nodded and grabbed the cauldron, filled with the new parchment, quills, ink, and robes. He scattered his new school supplies over the floor of his room and headed back downstairs for his owl, but stopped when he heard his parents talking.

            "He's fine, Sam. Trust me. Sirius Black is a really nice kid," Mrs. Potter reassured.

            "If you say so. I just don't want James to start thinking that he should be acting like the Black family does because he's pureblood," Mr. Potter sighed.

            "That's not going to happen. Everything James told you is true," Mrs. Potter reassured. James felt a surge of pride for his mother for her trusting his judgment. James continued into the living room, and silently picked up his owl and headed back upstairs. 

            James took out a new quill and some ink and set to work on a piece of parchment. 

**_Dear Sirius,_**

**_I know you said you were busy for the summer, but I was hoping we could still talk by mail. I don't want to write much in case this letter doesn't find you for whatever reason, but I was still curious to know a little about your family. My parents say that your family is made up of purebloods that think magic should be used only in pureblood families. Is that true? I know that you don't feel that way though, right? I mean you didn't even ask me about when we first met. Anyways, I was just hoping to talk. I'll talk to you later._**

**_~James Potter_**

**_P.S. I've instructed Kederick to wait for your reply._**

****

            James rolled up the parchment and headed over to Kederick who seemed eager to get out and stretch his wings. "Deliver this to Sirius Black," James instructed. "And don't leave until he gives you a reply." The owl almost seemed to nod in understanding as James strapped the parchment to his leg and watched him take off. 

            It took a few days for Sirius to reply, and his return letter was both sad and uplifting. 

**Dear James,**

**You're right about my family. They're obsessive purebloods, the whole lot of them and I'm not like them. That day at Diagon Alley, my parents had no idea where I was, and in actuality, they didn't seem to really care. I just like to escape out of the house every chance I get. That's why I couldn't invite you over. I was worried that my parents would oppose us being friends. Not because you were pureblood or not, but because I would be having fun and not be doing chores. They wouldn't want that. I'd like to come over to your house, but my parents claim that I've been wasting floo powder, and now they've hidden it. But there are only a couple weeks left till school starts. I'm just counting down the days. By the way, I forgot to mention this earlier, but you're pretty good at casting spells. Know any good hexes? Well, write me back soon.**

**~Sirius Black**

            James smiled at the hexes part. He knew dozens of hexes, and with Sirius being the prankster that he was, James knew that he must be storing this information for the upcoming school year. James's knowledge on spells and hexes was infinite. His excitement about going to Hogwarts had allotted him time to read all of the books his mother had purchased him. 

**_Dear Sirius,_**

**_I am the master of hexes and the conqueror of spells, but it's no fun to give you the info when we can actually test out our skills on the train. Wouldn't that be more fun? We could finally give up the muggle pranks, and take up the wizarding ones. This is going to be an awesome year. Well, right me back. _**

**_~James_**

****

            James and Sirius wrote continuously to each other till the day came when it was time for James to meet Sirius on platform nine-and-three-quarters.

            "James! Come along, we can't be late!" Mrs. Potter shouted up the stairs on the first of September. James pulled his tee shirt over his head, coaxed Kederick into his cage and ran down the stairs. 

            "Every body ready?" Mr. Potter asked stepping out of the kitchen. Mr. Potter was the only one who knew how to drive a muggle car, not to mention the fact he wanted to escort his son to the platform on his first day of school. James jumped into the back of the car and set Kederick on the seat next to him. They arrived at Kings Cross at ten forty-five. After grabbing a cart and loading James's stuff onto them, James and his parents walked down the muggle train station until they stopped between platforms nine and ten. 

            Mr. Potter looked both ways to make sure it was clear, and then ran cleanly through the brick wall of platforms nine and ten. "Go on, James," Mrs. Potter coaxed. "Do exactly as your father did. I'll be right behind you." James swallowed and tightened his grip on the cart. James moved his speed up to a run, and just as his father had done, James ran cleanly through the wall to where the Hogwarts Express was producing steam and his father was waiting. 

            Mr. Potter led his son to the train and helped him to load his things. Mrs. Potter came running up only a short time later. The train was to leave in five minutes. It was time for James to say good-bye. His parents lead him to the compartment cars. Mr. Potter hugged his son first. "Take care at school, son, and try to stay out of trouble."

            "I'll try," James said with the look of a devil-angel child.

            James turned to his mother whose eyes were filled with tears. "My little boy is growing up," she said, taking her turn at a hug. "We'll see you for Christmas won't we?"

            James nodded. "You better get on board, James. We'll see you soon!" Mr. Potter said.

            "Bye Dad! Bye Mum!" James cried before disappearing onto the train. James walked down the compartments glancing around till he finally found Sirius.

            "There you are, James! Thought you may have chickened out on teaching me those hexes!" Sirius said as he sat leisurely across the bench seat. 

            "Never!" James said sitting down. James looked around at the rest of the occupants. Besides Sirius there was a pale thin boy who sat on the bench across from them in slightly dirty clothes. His face was buried in _Boiling and Bubbling: Potions at your Fingertips_. Beside him was a huge boy. He was at least five times bigger than the average kid who had long bushy hair and even traces of a beard around his chin. 

            "And you guys are?" James questioned the two boys. The boy reading the book looked up hesitantly. 

            "I'm Remus Lupin," he said giving them a weak smile. "Just catching up on my worst subject," he said holding up the book on potions. 

            "Name's Hagrid," said the giant of a boy. He looked down at himself. "Yer probably wonderin'. I'm 'alf giant. I ain't too good with magic, but give me a creature and I can be sure to cure 'um."

            James nodded. "Good to know. I'm James Potter and this attempt at a human," he said gesturing at Sirius, "is Sirius Black."

            "He gives me more credit than I deserve," Sirius joked. Remus seemed to sink deeper into seat as if trying to hide. 

            "You both first years?" Remus and Hagrid nodded. "So are we. I met Sirius in Diagon Alley." There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence until Hagrid broke it.

            "So, what 'ouse do ye think yer gonna get?" Hagrid asked.

            "Slytherin of course," said a voice from the doorway. "That is for me." The four of them turned to see a semi-tall boy of eleven with blond hair that fell past his shoulders. He was wearing a smug smile on his face and was surrounded by two other boys, both beefier than the blond. All of them were dressed in their black school robes already. James felt Sirius stiffen in his seat.

            "Sirius, how good to see you again," the blond boy said silkily. His eyes skimmed the room. "Associating with a most unusual group I see."

            Sirius snickered. "That's funny, cause I thought we just passed your group. You didn't hear the herd of cows calling your name?" James tried to hold back his laugh but it came out as sort of a snort.

            The blond boy's sly smile faded as he turned abruptly on James. "And who might you be?"

            "What's it to you?" James sassed back, not caring one bit for the character of this boy.

            The boy raised an eyebrow. "It means nothing what-so-ever to me, but I don't think you know who _I _am. I am—"

            "Lucius 'I-think-I'm-a-hotshot-because-I'm-a-stupid-git' Malfoy," Sirius interrupted casting a knowing glance at James. 

            Malfoy's eyes burned fire. "I'd watch what you say Sirius, if I were you. After all, once your parents find out your associating with a poor nobody," Malfoy gestured to Lupin who turned a few shades whiter if it were possible, "a half-giant thing," he said glancing at Hagrid, "and Mr. No-Named-Nobody," he said glaring at James, "you may as well live at Hogwarts with the rest of the mudbloods." 

            James felt his hand close around his wand and before he had even realized it he had it out and pointed at Lucius. Lucius looked down at the wand in disdain. "Oh-no, No-Name first year has a wand. Whatever will I do?" Malfoy cried as he removed his own wand. James looked at Malfoy in the eyes and yelled, "_Expelliamus_!" Malfoy's wand flew neatly out of his hand and into James's. By this time, Malfoy's "body guards" had removed their wands and were keeping them leveled on James. 

            Sirius however had also gotten up from his seat and had his wand trained on Malfoy. Suddenly, Sirius cried, "_Accio, wands!_" and the two bodyguards had been disarmed. 

The fire burning in Malfoy's eyes was hot and angry. James smirked at Malfoy and

muttered, "_Tollicio!_" James just grinned as Malfoy shrunk down and became hunched over. His skin grew darker but with warts, moles, and boils. His head shrunk a few sizes, and his arms became so long that they dragged the floor. James had successfully turned Malfoy into a troll. 

            Sirius doubled over in laughter while the bodyguards looked at James in fear. "Apologize to everyone of us, Malfoy and I'll turn you back and give you back your wand." Malfoy grunted and Sirius started to crack up all over again. "What was that Troll Lucius?" James asked cupping his ear.

            "I'm sorry, Sirius," Malfoy grunted. "I'm sorry, no-name, poor-man, and giant-thing," Malfoy grunted out again. 

            James twirled his wand around in his hand. "We have names, Malfoy. I'm James Potter, he is Remus Lupin, and this is Hagrid."

            Remus and Hagrid looked up expectedly for their apologies. Malfoy grunted again. "I'm sorry, Remus, Hagrid, and _James_," Malfoy spat out with a growl. 

            "Very good, Troll Lucius," he pointed his wand at Lucius again and muttered, "_Humanius_!" Lucius Malfoy gradually turned back into his normal self. He straightened his posture so that he was once again as stiff as a board.

            "My wand, Potter?" Lucius said putting his hand out. 

            "Of course," James said. He presented the wand tip first as Sirius did also to Malfoy's cronies. Malfoy made a move as if he was putting his wand back into his robes, but he actually flipped it around in his hand, pointed it at James and exclaimed, "_Montistra_!" James however was ready. He did a little squiggly line diagonally across his chest with his wand tip pointing at Lucius and then he turned it at about his waist so that the wand was parallel to him. He pushed the wand out away from him. He then moved to about head height and made the same pushing motion he had done at his bottom waistline. 

            He did all this before Lucius's spell hit when in actuality; the spell never really hit James at all. James's wand motions had actually been made to create a shield to block the unfriendly spell. The spell hit the shield and bounced away from James and hit Malfoy. Malfoy's face instantly became to bubble and change shape. First it became that of a pig, then it turned into a wolf, a cat, finally stopping somewhere between a bear and a dragon. 

            Malfoy's two cronies ran over to Lucius as Lucius backed out into the hall, leaving the whole room in hysterics. "That was awesome!" Sirius said clapping James on the back still laughing. Even Lupin and Hagrid had joined in the laughter. James couldn't help grinning feeling satisfied with himself. He had gotten his message across to Malfoy and he'd won the respect of his peers. What more could he want?

            "That was an excellent block, James," Lupin said admirably. "Where'd you learn how to do that?"

            James shrugged. "You know when you're bored over the summer and you just pick up a few things, that's all I did."

            "'Ello boys," came a woman from the doorway. The boys looked up to see a woman with graying blond hair. She spoke with what seemed like a Swedish accent, but that wasn't what was important. It was the gold trolley full of candy that she was pushing down the hall. "Would you be liking something from the trolley?" James didn't even look at the rest for confirmation. "We'll take everything." James removed some money from his pockets and Sirius instantly stood up and removed some of his own. The boys split the cost fifty-fifty and shared the candy with Lupin and Hagrid. 

            The four of them took a seat as they chatted and shared candy with one another stopping only once to dress into their robes. Before they knew it, the train began to slow as students prepared to get off. Once they arrived at Hogwarts, the upperclassmen boarded carriages led by beautiful white horses while first years unloaded nervously outside the train. 

            'First years this way!" Came the elderly voice of a man. James couldn't make out what he looked like but he could see the light being given off from something up ahead. The whole area was dark making it difficult to see. James muttered, "_Lumos_," to his wand and Sirius followed suite. Other first years looked admiringly at them others just shook their head in disapproval, but they didn't care. Suddenly a third light came on besides them made by Remus who followed the rest of the first years looking nervous. 

            The three of them followed the rest of the first years down to the waterfront where James could make out at least ten boats. While he waited for the first years ahead of him to climb into the boats James looked around trying to find Hagrid. Surprisingly, the three of them had managed to become separated from the half giant.

            James however was unable to spot him and he proceeded to board the boat with Sirius, Lupin, and some other first years. The boat was small and made out of wood. It also had a small lantern that hung from its bow. It did seem as if the lightest movement would flip it over, but it surprisingly sailed smoothly across the lakes water all on its own. 

            "Oh no!" One of the other first years shouted from behind James. James, Sirius, and Remus all turned to see a small brown haired boy looking frantically around the boat, rocking it back and forth roughly. "My frog jumped over board!" The kid was bending over looking over the right side into the water trying to see.

            "Stop rocking the boat!" James cried grabbing the left side of the boat and holding his lit wand with the other. 

            "AHHHHH!" One of the girls suddenly screamed. "GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" In her rush to get away from what ever it was that had attacked her, the girl stood up. This was the last straw for the boat. The boat dipped unsteadily to either side only to eventually become off balance. The boat flipped over sending, Remus, James, Sirius, and three others into the water. The flame on James's wand instantly went out the moment he hit the water. 

            James swam to the surface coughing and sputtering out water. James looked around; he could make out at least four heads bobbing in the water. James turned abruptly when one shiny gold head caught the light of the lantern and he groaned as Lucius called out, "I'd stop and give you a hand Potter, but I don't feel like it." James could hear the heckling laughter of Lucius along with several others. 

            "Serene?" A girl near him called. "Serene?" She called more frantically. James felt something pass his arm and then grab hold tight. "You have to find my sister, Serene! She can't swim!" 

            "Ok, but you…have...to…let…go," James said trying to let go. Finally she released his hand and James brought his hand to the surface. "_Aquatis Lumos_," he whispered. A new flamed appeared at the end of James's wand and James dove below the surface. Everything was still murky even with the light, but he did manage to catch a shine of silver and he dove deeper. Bubbles were coming at him furiously now and he knew he was on the right trail. 

            Finally, James was able to reach out and grab the squirming girls hand. James rushed to the surface in dire need for air. Eventually the water around them broke, and they were at the surface again. Serene had a death grip on James's shoulder as James's struggled to stay afloat with the newly added weight. 

            "Are you alright?" James looked up into the sparkling eyes of an elderly wizard with dark blue robes covered in yellow stars, and a gray beard that barely reached his chest. James nodded. He saw that the boat that the apparent teacher was occupying was already filled with Remus, Sirius, and the boy who had the toad. The other girl was still frantically swimming around calling her sister's name. 

            "I'm alright Millie," Serene called almost right into James's ear. 

            "Come on now, let's get you three into the boat," the teacher above them called. James swam over with Serene still hanging on for dear life as the others lifted her into the boat. James followed Millie. The teacher turned the boat around and they followed the remaining boats to shore. 

            "Very impressive," the teacher said on the way. 

            "What that we managed to save time for a shower before the sorting?" Sirius spat bitterly. 

            The teacher chuckled. "No, no, I was referring to Mr. Potter's ability to make a water proof fire. Very advanced for a first year." James blushed but luckily no one could tell in the darkness. The seven of them traveled in silence. They reached the shore a short time later, colder than ever. James removed his wand with shivering hands. "A-all y-you h-ha-v-ve  t-to d-do is p-poin-nt your w-want at y-your clothes a-and say, '_Eteais Winnus_.'" The minute James said those words he instantly became warmer and he felt his hair and clothes dry. He watched as the others attempted to follow suit. Sirius and Remus instantly got the hang of it, but the girls kept dropping their wands, and the boy was going back and forth between dropping his wand and dropping his toad.

            James sighed and performed the spell for them and they too soon became drier and warmer. The teacher stood beside them watching the whole time. "Well, now that we're all dry, shall we continue to the Great Hall?" They all nodded, and the teacher led the way upstairs. 

            "All of them here Professor Dumbledore?" A witch asked them as soon as they had climbed three flights of steps. She stood in front of two big wooden doors, where a whole herd of first-years were nervously waiting.

            "Yes, everyone is here, Rayona," The man with the gray beard replied. The teacher nodded slightly and then opened the doors to the Great Hall.

            The first years walked in wonder. Four tables were lined up vertically parallel to the wall. They were all crowded with upperclassmen who talked and whispered as they walked down the small aisle-way made between two of the tables in the center of the room. The ceiling, James saw, was also a great resemblance to the night sky. Dark clouds were swirling and moving allowing the students quick views of the stars here and there. The witch that had addressed Dumbledore, led the students to where a stool sat on top of a wooden stage. The stool was not empty. On top of it rested a ratty old hat whose tip was barely standing up on its own. 

            "Ladies and gentlemen," the witch began. "Welcome to Hogwarts. In a minute we'll sort you into your houses. I am Professor Greenly head of Hufflepuff. Over here," she said gesturing to a tall handsome wizard in black and white robes, "is Professor Portello head of Ravenclaw. Professor Ulaseur," Professor said, gesturing to a beautiful black witch with an evil look in her eyes, "head of Slytherin, and Professor Naomi," she said gesturing to a tall stern looking wizard in brown and yellow robes, "head of Gryffinder." Each table full of upperclassmen clapped their hands obligingly when their teacher's name was announced. Professor Greenly clapped her hands. "Let the sorting begin."

            The room suddenly went silent. James looked around. All the older students had their eyes on the hat sitting on the chair while the first years looked around confused. James turned his head back to the front where the seam of the hat seemed to break and a mouth appeared. In a low sort of husky voice, the hat began to sing. 

"_Not much to see,_

_Not much to do,_

_The time has come_

_For me to sort you._

_Not a handsome hat_

_I might be,_

_But to your houses_

_I hold the key._

_Long ago there were four_

_Wizards and witches with different skills,_

_Priding different qualities_

_And I decide of which you fill._

_Hufflepuff are kind and just,_

_Completely loyal in their hearts._

_And with work and dedication you will find_

_This house will make high marks._

_Now Ravenclaw is special too,_

_Filled with those who want to learn._

_But don't think that they're no fun,_

_Because in wit they can give comedy a turn._

_And when we think of knights_

_ It's got to be Gryffindor._

_Brave and daring to the end,_

_They'll show you what chivalry is for._

_And finally there's Slytherin,_

_Where winning seeks no end._

_This sly house is not to be deceived_

_For there is no doubt a snake can fend._

_Here they are,_

_The four houses of Hogwarts._

_Come on and place me on your head,_

_And I will name your court. _

            The hat stopped speaking and the Great Hall erupted in applause. Professor Greenly reappeared next to the stool with a parchment in her hand. "Now when I call your name, please take a seat on the stool. Aaron, Caron!" A small boy with brown hair nervously approached the stage and sat on the stool. Professor Greenly placed the sorting hat on his head. A few seconds later it bellowed, "HUFFLEPUFF!" The boy practically ran off the stage to the cheering table.

            "Abbott, Jacqueline!" 

            "HUFFLEPUFF!"

            "Barker, Michael!"  

            "RAVENCLAW!" 

            "Black, Sirius!" Sirius gave James a thumbs up sign and headed confidently up to the stage. He slipped on the hat and after a slight delay it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius walked to the cheering Gryffindor table wearing the sorting hat. The Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, grabbed the hat off Sirius's head, and returned it to the stool.

            "Crabbe, Milliard!" James watched as one of Lucius's cronies approached and sat on the stool. 

            "SLYTHERIN!"

            "Creevy, Jason!" 

            "I dare you to levitate the hat to your head, James," said a voice behind him. James turned and saw a grinning Remus.  

            "GRYFFINDOR!"

            James glanced up at the stage and then looked back at Remus. "You're on!" 

            "Evans, Lily!" 

            "GRYFFINDOR!"

            "Flint, William!"

            "SLYTHERIN!" 

            James twirled his wand around in his hand as he waited for his name to be announced.

            "Hagrid!" The audience waited for the rest of the name, but there was none. The first years began to split apart as a boy easily three feet taller than everyone else tried to make his way through the crowd. 

            "HUFFLEPUFF!" Hagrid sighed with relief and walked to his table, shaking the stool and the hat as he left.

            "Lupin, Remus!"

            "GRYFFINDOR!" James smiled. He hoped that he, Sirius, and Remus ended up in the same house. James didn't know Remus very well, but he seemed nice enough.

            "Goyle, Frederick!" Lucius's other crony approached the stage. Not surprisingly the hat put him in Slytherin. 

            James tuned out until a familiar name reached his ears. "Malfoy, Lucius!" Lucius glided through the crowd, passing them with an superior air, as the hat was barely put on his head before yelling, "SLYTHERIN!" Lucius gave the audience a smug smile before walking down the steps to the Slytherin table. 

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" James waited impatiently till they finally called his name. 

            "Potter, James!" James didn't move. He heard Sirius give him a cheer as he reached for his wand. He pointed it at the hat and said, "_Accio, sorting hat_!" The black hat floated straight into James hands as Professor Greenly and the rest of the crowd watched in surprise. James calmly placed it on his head and waited. 

            "Very sure of yourself aren't you?" The hat whispered. "Very brave and daring. Well I think that pretty much narrows it down." The hat stopped whispering and yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" James smiled happily and removed the hat. 

            James held the hat out at arms length and muttered, "_Wingardium Leviosa!" _James smoothly flew the hat back to the stool and dropped it neatly onto the chair. James then walked confidently to the Gryffindor table and took a seat. Sirius patted him on the back and Remus smiled. 

            "Next time you have to give me something harder," James whispered to Remus who was sitting across from him."

            "That was really something!" Said a boy sitting next to him. He had dark brown hair and was unusually short for an eleven year-old. James recognized him as Peter Pettigrew. 

            "It was nothing," James said off-handedly blowing off the tip of his wand and placing it in his robes. Sirius laughed. 

            "Snape, Severus!" A small boy with long greasy hair and a pointed nose stepped up to the stage looking down at his feet as he walked. 

            Sirius laughed and pointed. "I don't think that kid realizes that your not supposed to use bacon grease in your hair." James broke out laughing but also tried to smother them as Professor Greenly gave them a glare. 

            Snape meanwhile was looking around for the source of the laughter when his eyes rested on the two boys. He too sent a glare their way, but his eyes met with James, and for some reason, James felt his eyes narrow. The connection was broken however the moment the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" James didn't know why he felt the way he did, but for some reason he sincerely disliked Severus Snape. 

            "Weasley, Arthur!" 

            "GRYFFINDOR!" Remus, James, and Sirius cheered with the other Gryffindors as a boy with flaming red hair came to the table. 

            "Zikes, Vivian!"

            "RAVENCLAW!" As the sorting came to a close, the last cheers came to an end. The stool and hat were removed from the stage and Professor Greenly took her seat with the other teachers. A man sat in the middle of the sickle-moon table with a high backed chair. 

            His hair was a dark gray on his head and his eyes were a shade of gray to match. He had a round face with a slightly bulging stomach that even his black and silver robes couldn't hide. He stood up and faced the group. 

            "Welcome first years to your new houses. I am Headmaster Dippit and in a moment I will go over some of the basic school rules, but before I do, I want to explain what being in a house means. During the course of the year, you will be able to earn points for your house. Your teachers can only distribute points as a reward of achievement. Any rule breaking however, and your house will lose points. At the end of the year, the points will be totaled and the house with the highest amount of points will receive the House Cup." The Great Hall applauded.

            Headmaster Dippit motioned them to settle and the Great Hall became quiet once again. "Now for the rules. First of all, I would like to mention that the forest is off limits to every year. No exceptions. Second, our Grounds Keeper, Mr. Welander, would like to remind you that no magic is to be performed in the hallways between classes. Lastly, your schedules will be delivered to you tomorrow morning and you will start your classes following breakfast in the Great Hall." He paused. "Now, without further adieu, let's eat!" 

            A variety of foods suddenly appeared on the table. There was chicken, ham, turkey, salads, fruits, and more deserts than James could count. The hall was instantly drowned in the happy chatter of the Hogwarts students and the clanging of silverware on the table. Everything was going fine until a small ghost floated in. He looked almost like an elf, but his eyes seemed to contain the knowledge of a goblin. 

            The ghost swooped down and stole the Chocolate Worm Pie (a pie where the worms inside the pie were made of chocolate but squirming to simulate real worms) right in front of them. 

            "Peeves! Put that back right now!" One of the older Gryffindor girls shouted at the ghost. Peeves unfortunately did exactly what she asked. However, instead of putting it back on the table, he threw it on top of her head. Chocolate worms began to squirm and wiggle down the front of her robes. 

            The only laughter was coming from the Slytherin table. The girl in anger however picked up a slice of Krummy Crum Cake and threw it at Peeves. Of course being the ghost that he is, the cake sailed right threw him and hit the back of fourth year at the Ravenclaw table. The teachers were instantly standing up trying to stop any more food from being thrown, but it was too late. The Great Hall had erupted into a hurricane of flying food. 

            After at least five minutes of flying food, a loud voice could be heard booming over the great hall. "_Immobulus!" _The food froze in midair as the students throwing the food stopped in surprise. 

            Professor Dumbledore had risen from his seat with his wand raised. His face was serious but his eyes were sparkling. He cleared his throat. "Prefects please lead your houses to your dormitories to wash up and rest." James, Sirius, and Remus stepped away from the table as they began to follow the rest of the first years that were filing out of the Great Hall. 

            They were led down the hall and up the stairs and pass many different pictures that smiled and waved at them. They finally came to a stop in front of a picture of a wizard in black robes who was lying against a tree in a big meadow. His pointed hat covered his face. He seemed to be sleeping.  

            "Wake up, Keenan!" the Prefect yelled at the picture. The wizard snorted awake, startled. He looked around and glared at the Prefect. 

            "Password, your Highness?" Keenan asked rudely. 

            "Bludger," the Prefect said disregarding Keenan's attitude. James smiled happy to hear that their password was a Quidditch term.

            "You may enter, _your Highness_," Keenan said as he slammed the picture open. "Thinks he's a king coming in here, waking me up, and tracking pudding and cakes onto the ruddy floor!" James laughed at the picture's muttering. It was true. The majority of the Gryffindor's were trailing some part of dinner into the common room with them.

            James looked around. The common room was comfortably decorated in Gryffindor's red and gold colors. Several sofas and arm chairs surrounded the area around the fire and ahead of them was an entry way that apparently had stairs that led to the their rooms. 

            "Wow," gasped Remus from his position next to James as his eyes explored the room. Sirius jumped between them throwing his arms around their shoulders.

            "Ah, our new home away from home! What can possibly be better?" __


	3. First Day Races

Chapter 3

            "First day of classes," Sirius said tiredly. "What joy."

            James grinned. "Well don't sound so enthusiastic. What's on the menu?" The two boys were seated at the Gryffindor breakfast table talking about their newly received schedules. 

            "Herbology, Flying, and Defense Against the Dark Arts," Sirius read his voice sounding bored.

            "There's nothing wrong with Flying," James argued. Sirius shrugged. 

            "But look who we have these classes with. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Slytherin, Herbology, Hufflepuff, Flying, Slytherin. We have to see Malfoy twice in one day! Once is too many!" 

            James laughed. "Well, he's going to think twice about doing anything funny after what happened on the train." James looked around. "Where's Remus? I haven't seen him all morning."

            "He mumbled something about having to see Dippit this morning," Sirius said monotonously as he poked mercilessly at the fruit on his plate. 

            "We should get to class," James said somewhat anxiously. 

            Sirius gave him a weird look. "We've got at least twenty minutes. What's the hurry?"

            James rolled his eyes. "Well, we'll have to _find_ the place. Meanwhile, we can explore a little."

            "Ah," Sirius said with a twinkle of mischief as he stood up from the table. James and Sirius walked down the large stone corridor, heading for the front door. They nevertheless stopped before reaching the door because of Sirius's sudden interest in a nearby statue. Its stature was nothing special compared to that of them many other statues that occupied spots in Hogwarts corridors. It had the head of a lion and the body of what looked like to be some sort of lizard. It was poised in an attack position.

            "I've heard that Hogwarts is filled with secret passages and rooms," Sirius said as he searched the statue as if expecting to find a button that said "secret passageway."

            "Oh come off it!" James said rolling his eyes. "The statue isn't going to just spring open, that is, if it really is a secret passageway. You have to say 'abracadabra' or something." 

            Sirius smiled. "Okay then." Sirius put his wand on the statue and said, "_Abracadabra_." Nothing happened and Sirius looked disappointed.

            James took his wand and pointed it at the statue. "_Alohomora_!" The statue let out a low roar and began to disappear. In front of them stood a long dark passage. James and Sirius's face lit up with anticipation. 

            "Come on James, let's check it out!" Sirius said trying to pull James inside, but James would not move. He looked longingly at the tunnel. 

            "We don't have time!" James said. "We've got to be in Herbology in five minutes!" Sirius looked back and forth between James and the tunnel and hung his head.

            "All right, but I want to come back here," Sirius warned. 

            "Fine, we'll just seal it up," James pointed his wand at where the statue had previously stood and muttered a sealing charm. "Better?" 

            Sirius nodded, and the two of them headed to Herbology just seconds from the time when they would be announced as late. The Gryffindors assembled on one side of the long table, and Hufflepuff was on the other. Sirius and James found places next to Remus and across the table from Hagrid who waved upon their entry. Each person in the long line of witches and wizards had a small cauldron in front of them. The cauldrons in front of them however, were not empty. Inside was a sort of green bubbly goo. 

            "Good Morning First Years!" Professor Portello said, tapping his wand on the table in front of him. He gave the group a dazzling smile as his bright orange robes glimmered in the sun that shown down from the top of the green house. "Welcome to your first school day at Hogwarts, and your first Herbology lesson with me. Now, since it is the first day, I thought that it would be nice to start out with something fun."

            Sirius looked down as the concoction in front of him formed a large bubble only to pop and sink back into the rest of the sticky green slime.

            "Can anyone tell me what is in the cauldrons?" Professor Portello asked.

            A girl from the Hufflepuff house raised her hand, but before Professor Portello could call on her, James had blurted out the answer. "It's an herb called paniferia, that is only found near waterbeds in Africa. It heals minor wounds and scrapes to prevent scars." Professor Portello nodded and was about to congratulate James, when James continued to speak. 

            "It is not often used in daily medical treatment because of its previous over use has caused a major shortage of the plant itself," James finished.

            Professor Portello gave James a somewhat irritated look at the continuous explanation but nonetheless smiled when James had finished. "Very good, Mr. Potter. I would appreciate however, if you'd give your classmates who raise their hands a turn."

            James shrugged. "Sure. Whatever you say, Professor."

            Professor Portello nodded. "Now then. Does anyone have any cuts or scrapes they'd like to heal?" Not surprisingly no one raised their hand. No matter how much Professor Portello wanted to convince them that the substance in front of them would heal them, the bubbling green sludge spoke as its own objection. 

            "Very well. I have some of my own, that I will use to show you the benefits of this substance." Professor Portello raised the sleeves of his robes and revealed a small cut on his arm that was probably the result of working with the flesh-eating tulips, or the thorn throwing roses that attacked when they felt threatened. 

            Professor Portello took out a spoon and scooped out some of the green substance from the cauldron in front of him and dropped it onto his arm. Instantly the planiferia began to spread until it wrapped itself fully around the length of the cut and had wrapped it around the part of the arm under the cut. For a few minutes it stayed like that and bubbled just as it had in the cauldron before it began to turn beautiful colors of pink and orange that separated into tiny individual petals and floated to the floor. When all the planiferia had fallen in petal form to the floor, there was no evidence left of either a wound or a scar.

            "Voila, and that is how you use planiferia," Professor Portello said with a smile as he pulled down the sleeve of his robes. "Can anyone tell me why the planiferia fell to the ground as petals?"

            James raised his hand but without waiting to be called on, he began speaking. "Well, since the planiferia is a type of plant, it needs someway to re-grow. So not only do the petals turn colors to blend in with the rest of Africa's native flowers, but the petals dry out and are planted to grow more planiferia."

            "Correct, Mr. Potter," Professor Portello said with a slight edge to his voice. "But I didn't call on you."

            James pretended to look confused. "Call on me? You never said that you had to call on me. Only that I needed to raise my hand." Laughter filled the room at this comment and Professor Portello looked about ready to explode. 

            "Settle down, Mr. Potter, or I will start deducting points from your house! You don't want to lose points on the first day, do you?" Professor Portello asked. James was grudgingly silent. "Alright, now that you've seen how it's done. I want all of you to try out the planiferia. If you don't have any scrape to test, please find someone who does." 

            While everyone else was crowding together and making annoying exclamations over the weird feeling that overtook whoever was wearing the planiferia, Remus, James, and Sirius grouped together to talk. 

            "Good one," Sirius said smiling at James.

            James shrugged. "It was until Portello sucked all the fun out of it."

            "He's a teacher," Sirius scoffed. "It's his job to suck the fun out of things."

            "Yeah," Remus agreed.

            James gave Remus a look of sudden thought. "Hey, what did you have to see Headmaster Dippit for?" 

            Remus all of a sudden looked nervous. "Nothing really. He just wanted to talk to me about my schedule."

            "Right," James said, but his eyebrow remained raised in disbelief. 

            "Alright class, we're done for the day," there was some slight cheering as people began to make their way to the door as petals filtered around them. "Bur before you go, your assignment will be to tell me the stages of the healing process from when it's first placed on a cut to the point when it becomes petals. A six-hundred word minimum due next class." The students filed out of the classroom, groaning about the idea of homework in their first class on their first day. 

            "You'd think teachers could wait a day before they drop a load of homework into your lap," Sirius complained.

            "Yeah, but think about it. Now we have flying!" James enthused. 

            Sirius rolled his eyes. "Okay, relax. We'll get there soon enough." Remus, Sirius, and James walked across the grounds heading towards their outdoor flying lesson. "Hey, look over there," Sirius said, looking at a regular sized tree that was surrounded by fresh dirt. It may have been about the size of a regular tree, but to say it was a regular tree was a little far-fetched. 

            It had brown bark, but no leaves at all, and at the end of each branch was a sort of large round knob that resembled a club a cave man in cartoons may carry. "I've never seen a tree like that before," Sirius said in amazement as he started to walk towards it.

            'Sirius, come back," both Remus and James called at the same time.

            "Why?" Sirius asked glancing back at them.

            "It's a whomping willow. If you go near it, it will pommel you," James explained.

            Sirius looked at the tree with interest. "I wonder why they decided to plant one on school grounds. It must be protecting something."

            "Protecting something?" Remus asked with a somewhat forced laugh. "You've been reading way to much into the whole secret passage thing."

            "Why else would they plant a dangerous tree at Hogwarts?" Sirius argued. 

            "I don't know," Remus said slightly flustered. "But either way, there's no way you can go near it without getting hurt, so it would be mindful not to try."

            Sirius glared at Remus. "Remus is right, Sirius," James intervened. "For whatever reason that willow was planted there, we were not meant to know." 

            Sirius sighed. "Fine, have it your way then." The three friends continued onto their lesson in silence past the willow tree, which in fact was marked with a sign warning no one to go near it. They proceeded to the courtyard to where their lesson was to commence. When they arrived they found two long rows of brooms lying on the ground. One row was filling with occupants from the Slytherin house, the other, Gryffindor. Unfortunately, Malfoy was already there, accompanied of course by Crabbe and Goyle. 

            "Think you have what it takes to fly, Potter?" Malfoy asked snidely once Remus, Sirius, and James had taken a place next to a broom in the row of Gryffindors.

            James glared at Malfoy. "I _know_ I have what it takes to fly."

            "Graces me, confident are we?" Lucius commented.

            "More than I can say for you, _Lucius_," James snickered. 

            Malfoy's self absorbed smile disappeared. "Are you calling me a coward, Potter?"

James stood back and crossed his arms in front of his chest, grinning. "Can you prove me otherwise?"

Malfoy was about to reply when Professor Frecha appeared. She had shinning blue eyes, golden blond hair, and was dressed in beautiful pure white robes. "Good morning, class!" She said all too cheerily. "Welcome to your first flying lesson. Today we will begin the basics. Now, if everyone will step onto the left side of their brooms, we'll get started.

"Every one place your right hand over your broom and say the word 'up' with love and feeling." James heard Sirius snicker and the word love, and couldn't help but smile himself. James performed the task quite easily and found that his other friends had too. "Very good. Now everyone please straddle their brooms, like so," Professor Frecha said placing one leg on either side of the broom. 

"Good, now when I say 'go' you will push off from the ground, suspend in the air for a few moments, and place your feet gently back on the ground. Ready?" She asked as she looked around the group to verify that everyone was indeed ready. "Go!" 

Every student attempted to kick-off from the ground, but only a few managed to do so successfully. A lot of students fell over when the attempt to kick-off was made, and Professor Frecha went around to help those students accordingly. James managed lift off with no trouble, while Remus and Sirius had to make several attempts before they lifted off the ground.  

            Meanwhile, Malfoy was glaring at James from the spot where he hovered. Malfoy glanced over to see where Professor Frecha was and then called, "A race around the tower, Potter?" James glanced up to see where Malfoy was pointing. A single tower was leveled off in the sky. "Go up and around the tower, and the first one back wins. What do you say?"

            James glanced at Professor Frecha who was helping Peter Pettigrew stay on his broom. "Alright, Malfoy, you're on."

            "Count down Crabbe?" Malfoy requested coolly.

            "No way, am I having one of your cheat friends countdown. Sirius will do it," James protested.

            "Fine, have it your way," Malfoy said. "Sirius if you please."

            "Okay, when I say 'go,'" Sirius said looking back and forth between the two. "Three, two, one—Malfoy!" Before Sirius could say "go" Malfoy had kicked off and was now zooming towards the tower. James kicked off angrily behind him and caught up with Malfoy quickly. 

            The two of them were neck and neck until they approached the tower. The minute they attempted to go around the it Malfoy shoved James. James hit the tower with a loud smack while he nearly fell off his broom. He could hear Malfoy laughing in front of him, but James was determined not to lose. He completed his round around the tower and again caught up with Malfoy; he was just inches away from touching down in front of Sirius, but James managed to fly right under Malfoy as he landed just seconds before Malfoy did. 

            "And the winner is—" Sirius began.

            "Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy! What did you think that you are doing?" Professor Frecha asked approaching the two boys angrily. 

            "Potter challenged me to a broom race," Lucius explained before James could break in. James glowered at Malfoy.  

            "I'm very disappointed, Mr. Potter," Professor Frecha said disapprovingly. "Three day's detention for the both of you." 

            "But, Professor—" James attempted.

            "Not another word, Mr. Potter," Professor Frecha said. "Now," she said replacing her angry face with a calm and cheery countenance, "we will learn steering. When you want to turn right, lean towards the right, but not too far. You don't want to fall off," she said giggling. 

            "Detention? Malfoy started it!" James whispered angrily to his friends.

            "Touch luck, my friend," Remus said. "Malfoy shouldn't have set you up like that."

            "Don't worry, James, we won't let Malfoy get away with this," Sirius said. 

            "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, will you please pay attention!" Professor Frecha ordered. 

            "Sorry, Professor," the boys murmured. Professor Frecha continued on with the instructions and they were able to practice turning for the remainder of the class. When the lesson ended, James was happy about getting the chance to fly despite the fact that he had gotten in trouble. 

            "Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter, detention here at five o'clock," Professor Frecha called as they walked away. 

            "See you then, Potter," Malfoy said as he brushed past James, but as soon as Malfoy walked away, another boy replaced him. 

            "That was incredible!" Peter Pettigrew exclaimed in awe. "Where did you learn to do that?"

            James felt a surge of pride. "Well, I have actually only read about flying in books and today I was finally able to put those moves to use."

            "They were amazing!" Peter rambled on. "You're sure to make the Quidditch team! You're going to try out aren't you?"

            "Well I—"

            "Imagine if you made it! A first-year on the house team!" Peter said.

            "I'm not going to imagine making it, I am going to make it!" James said with determination.

            "Of course," Peter agreed. "Well, see you later James."

            "Hey, Diamond Weaver," Sirius called to James in reference to one of the most famous Quidditch players of the age. "Let's get your head down from the clouds and get to lunch. I'm starved."

            "Alright, alright, keep your robes on," James said, as he, Lupin, and Sirius continued their path to the Great Hall. They ate lunch at the Gryffindor table talking about plots to get even with Malfoy among other things, by the start of their next class, everyone had heard about the race against Malfoy and were congratulating him on his win.

            "Very impressive," Jason Creevy said congratulating James. 

            "No one messes with, James Potter," Sirius said grinning.

            "Shut up, Sirius," James said with a smile.

            "Take your seats class," Professor Ulaseur ordered. Her black robes seemed to shimmer and her hair was long and curled outwards slightly at the ends. "Welcome to your first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Here you will learn how to be witches and wizards. You will face unimaginable creature where in the end, it comes down to whether or not you're afraid of the unknown or of fear itself. Defending yourself against the Dark Arts is not an easy task, and if you don't pay attention, you may find yourself dead in Algeria."

            James coughed to hide his laughter. This teacher was being way too dramatic. He shifted his eyes around the room. Sirius was regarding Ulaseur with the same sort of boredom that James himself felt, while Remus seemed to be following along, but still did not seem overly worried. In fact, the only person who seemed completely enthralled was a certain greasy haired boy whose quill was scratching loudly on the parchment in front of him. James thought hard trying to recall the boy's name. _Simon? No. Sam? No. Snape? Yes, but what's his first name? Oh, right. Snivellius. Snivellius Snape. _

            James looked mischievously at his wand and then back at Snivellius. He picked up his wand and when Professor Ulaseur turned around to write about jackers (a creature that kind of resembled a rabbit but whose fur was protected by poisonous oils and was a carnivore) James whispered, "_Purpillus!_" and a purple gooey looking ball began to form. Moments later, it hit Snivellius right on the head and his hair began to turn purple. 

            Snape heard the laughter at the same time he felt the ball hit his head. He looked up abruptly in the direction that the ball had come and his eyes rested on James Potter. James's wand was resting innocently on his desk, but James's eyes told Snape everything he needed to know. 

            "For goodness sakes, children, stop laughing!" Professor Ulaseur ordered as she placed her hands and perfectly black painted nails on her hips. The laughter quieted down. "Who is responsible for this?" she asked.

            "Potter," Snape growled. 

            Ulaseur raised an eyebrow at James. "Is this true, Mr. Potter?"

            "No, ma'am," James protested with fake innocence. "I've been listening to your lesson on the carnivorous jackers."

            "Very well," Professor Ulaseur said with doubt. "Mr. Snape, if you will report to Madame Walkers she'll fix you right up." Snape closed his books soundlessly and headed for the door, but as he walked past James's desk, Snape could have sworn he heard James whisper, "Goodbye, Snivellius."

            The rest of the lesson went by slowly, ending with the announcement that a five- hundred-word essay was due next class on the habitation and feeding habits of jackers. 

            "First day done!" Sirius said with relief.

            "I know I was eager to begin with, but I'm exhausted now," James agreed.

            "And your day isn't over," Remus informed James. "You still have detention to go through."

            James groaned. "Don't remind me."

            Sirius shrugged. "You're doing detention for a flying class. How can that possibly be bad for little James?"

            "It's not the fact that I'm doing this for flying that's bothering me. What's bothering me is that I'm doing it with Malfoy," James explained.

            "You're right. That hurts as much as being in the same room as a howling banshee," Sirius agreed. 

            "We'll see you in the common room later though. Bye!" Remus called. James dropped his homework off in his room and then proceeded down to the flying field. Malfoy was already there when James arrived.

            "Nice of you to get us in trouble, Potter," Malfoy said sourly. No doubt he had heard the news that was floating around the school about James beating him. 

            "Number one, the challenge was your idea. Number two, even if we still have detention, the fact remains that I beat you," James said calmly. 

            "Good evening boys," Professor Frecha interrupted, preventing Malfoy from replying. "For your detention this evening, I would appreciate if you cleaned off all the brooms and place them neatly in the broom shed," she said smiling as she headed to the broom shed itself.

            "Here are your cleaning cloths," Professor Frecha said as she waved her wand and a rag and cleaning solution appeared. "I'll give you boys one hour. Have fun!" She started to turn around when she did a quick about face. "Almost forgot! Wands please!" James and Malfoy reluctantly gave up their wands and Professor Frecha once again headed for the castle.

            Malfoy looked at the rag in disdain. "This is elves work, not work for wizards."

            "Shove it, Malfoy," James said grabbing a broom. 

            "I'm not taking orders from you, Potter," Malfoy argued.

            "I'm not giving you orders. I'm simply reinstating what has already been said by Frecha," James reminded him. Malfoy stared at James angrily before he finally relented and grabbed a broom. They worked in silence and finished ten minutes before the allotted time. 

            On one side, neatly placed in their racks against the shed were the brooms that James had cleaned, on the other were the brooms that had been done by Malfoy as a half asked job. "Malfoy, if you knew how to clean as well as you cheat you'd be in business," James spat.

            "As I said, cleaning is for elves. For those _less_ _fortunate_ people who can't afford to do work any other way than by their own hands I would expect nothing but satisfactory results," Malfoy replied. 

            "One day, Malfoy, you're going to fall off your high horse and I'm going to be there to sell tickets," James said with narrow eyes. Neither of them spoke after that. Five minutes later, Professor Frecha released them. James headed to the Great Hall and grabbed a bite to eat with some other students who were eating late and then preceded up to the dorm. 

            When he reached his room he found Remus and Sirius playing a game of Exploding Snap. James debated whether or not to work on his homework, but decided against it, thinking that he could do it tomorrow. Exhausted from the day's events, he said goodnight to his friends and got ready for bed. 


End file.
